Chicago Foreclosures: Steps Towards Resurrection
December 4th, 2007 by 
Joseph Smith
Chicago has shown hyper activity in the foreclosure market recording 5,549 filings by May 2007. This is a straight 20% increase from the previous month’s filings. The rate of Chicago foreclosures was one filing per 524 homes, which is an astounding 1.3 times more than the national average. This average has thrown Chicago in the third place in the top five lists. Right now Chicago is ahead of Philadelphia and New York in the foreclosure race.
This alarming increase of foreclosures in the Chicago area is a matter of concern as it can have a disturbing effect on homeowners, realtors, lenders as well as the economy. To counteract the effect of foreclosures in Chicago, the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago has called for a conference to discuss the situation in hand and to find solutions.
The conference is slated to take place on 11th and 12th December, 2007, at Country Springs Hotel in Wisconsin. The conference organized by FRB, Chicago is in partnership with the Chicago Consumer and Community Affairs Division, and will be co-sponsored by Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority (WHEDA) and the University of Wisconsin Extension. The title of the conference is “An Informed Discussion of Nontraditional Mortgage Products & Escalating Foreclosures.” Its main aim is to throw light on the rise in the number of Chicago foreclosures and how to effectively deal with it. Other topics of discussion will include the mortgages available and why people are defaulting on their mortgages.
Participants and attendees are expected to gain some valuable insights into the reasons behind the rise in Illinois foreclosures. Experts from the industry will speak about the various risks involved in purchasing non-traditional mortgages and also discuss the different problems that have risen due to the increase in the number of foreclosed homes.
The conference is being organized as an effort to build some kind of grass-root coalition that will be able to get an effective response from the Chicago and Wisconsin community with respect to the rising numbers of Chicago foreclosures. The registration fee for the conference is $60.00 for everyone and $40.00 for non-profit organizations. The deadline for registration is on December 3rd, Monday.
What needs to be seen is whether this conference will be able to help fight the problem of foreclosed homes and if it will be able to provide a desirable solution for the community. Till then the foreclosures are expected to carry on at their current rate.
